New Speed Record For Everest
A Sherpa has set an astonishing new record time for reaching the summit of Mount Everest from base camp. His ascent was four hours faster than the previous record...
Posted: 23 May 2003
by Jon
Everest just wouldn't be Everest without the usual spate of record
attempts. So far this season we've had the oldest ever summiteer - a
Japanese fella aged 70 who was also the first man to ski the South
Col in 1970 - and now a 25-year-old Sherpa has set a new speed ascent
record for the mountain.
|
|
|
Pemba Dorjie Sherpa with pictures
of the Nepali royals he placed on the
summit: www.nepalnews.com
|
Pemba Dorjie Sherpa reached the summit in an insane 12 hours and 45
minutes, after leaving base camp in the afternoon and climbing through
the night. The time is a brutal four hours faster than the previous
fastest ascent of the mountain by the late Babu Chhiri.
According to this
BBC story, there's another Sherpa at base camp who believes he
can climb the mountain in less than 12 hours and is planning to give
it a go in the next week...
To put the whole circus in perspective, the majority of Sherpas
are motivated not by a desire to climb mountains, but by the hope
that the publicity attached to such records will attract sponsorship to help provide for their families. A country with widespread poverty, Nepal's situation has been made worse by the
Maoist insurrection which has badly hit tourism, the main source
of foreign income.
Meanwhile the British climber who broke his leg high on the
mountain is reportedly making slow but steady progress down the hill
to a point where he can be evacutated to Kathmandu.
For a huge splatter of Everest news see www.everestnews.com
Discuss this story
|
